Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 666: A Mess ()

The ascending room took a short moment to arrive and it took that short time for Neveah and Imagor to reach the level of the underground dungeons of Dragon Keep, where Menarx’s district could be found.

Once the ascending room came to a stop, Imagor stormed off and Neveah followed behind him swiftly.

At the entrance to the dungeons, there was a lone dragon lord standing guard as usual and he was surprised at Imagor’s arrival.

Each of the King’s guards had their jurisdiction and it could not be often one would find Imagor in the perimeter of the dungeons.

Neveah took stock of their surroundings, nothing seemed out of place. But that did not account for what was currently at play within Menarx’s district.

"Lord Imagor..." One of the dragon lords began to say but Imagor cut him off.

"Menarx, where is he?!" Imagor demanded.

The dragon lord stiffened, on alert almost immediately. It was not difficult for him to sense Imagor’s mood and judge for himself that something was off, though he could not tell what.

"Down in his district." The dragon lord reported, glancing between Neveah and Menarx.

Imagor stormed into the entrance without another word and Neveah was about to follow but she paused.

"Stay on alert, this is the only entrance and exit to the dungeons." Neveah said to the dragon lord on guard.

"There is a security risk?" The dragon lord asked knowingly.

"We do not know for certain yet, but you know what response is expected of you." Neveah said.

"Nothing will get past me, My Lady." The dragon lord assured Neveah in a firm tone.

Neveah stared warily at the entrance to the dungeons, recalling the last event she had been down there, but she quickly brushed off her hesitation and followed after Imagor, catching up to him in just a moment.

By the time Neveah and Imagor arrived to Menarx’s district, they were greeted with an unlikely scene.

Menarx sat, leaned against the wall, clutching his bleeding side, there was already a pool of blood forming around him and he appeared to be barely conscious.

"Narx! Scales!" Neveah gasped out.

"Menarx!" Imagor exclaimed in horror, dashing over to his brother’s side. He immediately applied pressure on the wound while demanding an explanation.

Neveah was also by Menarx’s side the next moment, but she did not crouch down and instead glanced around the dungeons warily.

Her nostrils flared as her senses alerted her to multiple unsettling scents.

"What happened?! Who hurt you?!" Imagor demanded.

"There are dark sorcerers here..." Neveah muttered.

"They are still here, somewhere... Veah, is here... Imagor, Lord River may be their target. You go get Lord River out first..." Menarx stuttered out with difficulty, he groaned lightly,

At Menarx’s instructions, Neveah hurried to take over from Imagor.

She nudged Imagor’s hand away, quickly taking off her outer robes, she bundled it and held it tightly against Menarx’s wounds.

"He has been paralyzed by poison before the wound was inflicted." Imagor related to Neveah.

"I can tell..." Neveah began to say but they were cut off when they heard a crashing sound from somewhere in Menarx’s district and a loud shriek of pain

"Imagor! Go, stop them!" Menarx hissed.

"Who the hell cares if one of the Faes die?! The sorcerers can’t get out anyways, but you are badly hurt!" Imagor snapped, losing his usual cool.

"No one here can die without my permission!" Menarx snarled at Imagor.

"Go, you should go. You said it yourself, no decision has been made on Lord River by the unified council, we cannot explain his death. I will be with Narx..." Neveah interrupted quickly before Menarx got more agitated.

"Go!" Neveah urged, glancing up at Imagor.

Imagor darted off without arguing further and Neveah returned her gaze to Menarx.

"Why would you not call for your brothers?! Are you courting death?! What would happen if we did not come?!" Neveah hissed at Menarx.

"The effect of the herb is not potent, it will fade soon and I wouls handle things..." Menarx defended his actions.

"Do not look at me like that, it is hard enough for me without you looking at me with those disappointed eyes..." Menarx said in a low tone.

Neveah’s reprimands died out, she breathed a heavy sigh and murmured an apology.

"The wound does not seem to be that deep, nothing is damaged and it will heal soon... But you can’t move..." Neveah murmured, glancing around for something she could put to use.

"It is just a wound, I will live... I will be fine once the paralysis fades off..." Menarx murmured tiredly.

"You want to live now? The moment anything went wrong, you should have called for one of us..." Neveah said quietly, her tone thick with concern.

Menarx did not respond, he turned his head away from Neveah.

"Narx... the black network could not have had the ability to poison you while locked up here. How were you poisoned? And why did you attempt to keep it quiet?" Neveah asked Menarx with a suspicious frown.

"I..." Menarx trailed off, grunting quietly beneath his breath.

"You wanted the poison to fade off before we arrived so we would never know about it, that is the only explanation that makes sense." Neveah confronted Menarx.

"Look at me!" Neveah demanded.

Menarx moved his tired gaze so his eyes were fixed on Neveah and then they strayed to a small wine flask on the table, it was quite a feminine flask... nothing Menarx would have in his possession ordinarily, unless it had been given to him by someone else.

Neveah knew the answer before Menarx even said a word.

"She wouldn’t...you should not just jump into conclusions..." Neveah said in a tone of doubt.

"It may not have been... I do not know. She is the only one I have been in contact with today... only Fae’s know the herb that paralyzes us, only Fae’s will benefit from Lord River’s death..."

"She has repeatedly mentioned Lord River’s pending trial... I just... I don’t know and I hate that I cannot tell...if I have been betrayed or not... I hate that the first thing my mind goes to is her, yet I will do anything to protect her..." Menarx muttered weakly.

"If she has done it... what am I to do? And if she has not... how do I clear this constant doubt in my heart?" Menarx asked Neveah in a pained tone.

Neveah felt the conflict in Menarx’s heart down to her bones, she knew well enough that the wounds he had at this moment was nothing compared to how tortured his heart was.

To the extent that he sat here, bleeding out without calling for help. Because the possibility that he had been poisoned by his own rider was one he did not want to make known.

Neveah had thought Menarx had found the truest happiness when she let go of him...but what was this?

"What is this mess..." Neveah muttered.